I discussed the power source problem with my father.
I suggested using a mobile phone recharger which would give 5.7V, but he objected to it and said too much voltage might break either the hub or the wireless adapter (the hub is a DC 5V device). The other suggestion I had was to build a power source from AA-batteries. This he agreed on and said that you can get these ready-made battery chassis and a plug which fits the hub from an electronics shop.
The discussion continued and he said it should be enough with 3 AA batteries which would give 4.5V, but having four would once again risk the hub or wireless adapter with six volts. Having some high-powered re-chargeable AA-batteries may provide enough power to keep things working long enough. Anyone know what kind of voltage USB-devices can take before breaking?
Anyways, this would provide a portable solution for the project and I'm keen to look into it :) I haven't really done a lot of "hardware hacking", but this experiment isn't that bad, even I can do it.
Too bad I wasn't able to join the Security Bloggers Network meet-up at the RSA Conference. Maybe next time.
April 12, 2008
April 6, 2008
Security mindset
I read a commentary by Bruce Schneier about security mindset (thanks Anton C.).
What he says is true. If you have the mindset, you see the world in a different way.
I've been interested in security since I was a teenager, but got professionally involved in it about 6-7 years ago. I was security-minded already then, but things really changed after a long audit period involving many different projects. I had a very knowledgeable guy sparring, challenging and teaching me (a mentor), but the audit period finally put me over the edge.
I couldn't help but look and noticing things that I considered some sort of risk, and how to exploit the issue. Perhaps it was because of all the attention to details you need to put in a large audit, where you really have to adapt to new environments, technologies and think out of the box most of the time, to think like an attacker. I'm certain that also my personal interest in security and spending some time with it even during freetime has helped.
How about you, did your mindset develop during time or have you always had it?
What he says is true. If you have the mindset, you see the world in a different way.
I've been interested in security since I was a teenager, but got professionally involved in it about 6-7 years ago. I was security-minded already then, but things really changed after a long audit period involving many different projects. I had a very knowledgeable guy sparring, challenging and teaching me (a mentor), but the audit period finally put me over the edge.
I couldn't help but look and noticing things that I considered some sort of risk, and how to exploit the issue. Perhaps it was because of all the attention to details you need to put in a large audit, where you really have to adapt to new environments, technologies and think out of the box most of the time, to think like an attacker. I'm certain that also my personal interest in security and spending some time with it even during freetime has helped.
How about you, did your mindset develop during time or have you always had it?
April 1, 2008
Hardware arrived, some testing
Got the goods from the hardware shop.
I bought 2 Gigs of memory for my laptop, seems to work well. When the new version of Ubuntu comes out, I'll do a complete re-install and go with the whole disk encryption scheme. Then I bought an A-female to A-female USB-adapter so I can plug USB-devices to the N810. Tests with a memory stick was successful, probably a USB-keyboard might also work and with other low-powered devices which has support.
I also bought a D-Link DWL-G122 USB wireless adapter(RT73 chipset, HW Rev C1), but of course the N810 didn't pack enough power to run the adapter. I got the link light flashing with a USB hub in-between, but that is all. I need to ask around if someone has a "universal" 5V power source which I could utilize for testing the thing out. I had already compiled the rt73 drivers for maemo so that part was covered.
Basically my aim was to get packet injection and other wireless attacks working with the N810, but time will show if I eventually get there. Considering the need to carry around the USB hub and a power source for getting it to work doesn't really sound practical. I googled around and found one USB hub which used batteries to provide power, so that might be a viable solution, but honestly it is quite a large solution so carrying around a laptop might be less suspicious if you don't have deep pockets.
I had also compiled Nessus 2 version for the maemo and hoped that perhaps it would have worked properly with this WLAN adapter. It might be that there is something fishy elsewhere but with the cx3110x it didn't seem to work. Nessus daemon loaded alright, but when trying to connect to it, it was a failure. Anyways, someone might think I'm silly when testing these things, but I sort of enjoy the challenge, even if it costs some money to do. The USB wireless adapter might be a good thing to have nearby if I have to use a laptop which has an internal WLAN adapter that is not suitable for wireless testing.
If I get or don't get things working, I might take a peek at the FreeMAC drivers.
I bought 2 Gigs of memory for my laptop, seems to work well. When the new version of Ubuntu comes out, I'll do a complete re-install and go with the whole disk encryption scheme. Then I bought an A-female to A-female USB-adapter so I can plug USB-devices to the N810. Tests with a memory stick was successful, probably a USB-keyboard might also work and with other low-powered devices which has support.
I also bought a D-Link DWL-G122 USB wireless adapter(RT73 chipset, HW Rev C1), but of course the N810 didn't pack enough power to run the adapter. I got the link light flashing with a USB hub in-between, but that is all. I need to ask around if someone has a "universal" 5V power source which I could utilize for testing the thing out. I had already compiled the rt73 drivers for maemo so that part was covered.
Basically my aim was to get packet injection and other wireless attacks working with the N810, but time will show if I eventually get there. Considering the need to carry around the USB hub and a power source for getting it to work doesn't really sound practical. I googled around and found one USB hub which used batteries to provide power, so that might be a viable solution, but honestly it is quite a large solution so carrying around a laptop might be less suspicious if you don't have deep pockets.
I had also compiled Nessus 2 version for the maemo and hoped that perhaps it would have worked properly with this WLAN adapter. It might be that there is something fishy elsewhere but with the cx3110x it didn't seem to work. Nessus daemon loaded alright, but when trying to connect to it, it was a failure. Anyways, someone might think I'm silly when testing these things, but I sort of enjoy the challenge, even if it costs some money to do. The USB wireless adapter might be a good thing to have nearby if I have to use a laptop which has an internal WLAN adapter that is not suitable for wireless testing.
If I get or don't get things working, I might take a peek at the FreeMAC drivers.
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